How are you today? I'm superfantastic.

Very Superstitious

I don't consider myself a superstitious person. I don't have a lucky anything (number, pen, shirt, etc.). I don't think black cats affect my luck any differently from cats of any other color. I can't think of any rituals I go through for luck or anything of that nature.

Well, there was the one time when my friend Carl and I realized that every time we watched a Packers game together, they lost. But if we watched it separately or if we were together and with one or more other friends, they won. Now, why would we go and willfully jinx our Packers when there was such overwhelming evidence?

And there is the straw wrapper thing. Maybe you did this in middle school. After removing the straw, you flatten the wrapper and tie it in a large, loose knot. You must then think of somebody and pull on both ends of the straw. If the wrapper breaks with the knot intact, the person isn't thinking of you. But if the knot comes out, then the person is thinking of you. Holly and I pretend to believe that this is accurate. I got it from Amy, who when the knot stayed in, would announce that the person was probably peeing.

The one thing I will sheepishly admit to lending any entirely misguided credence to is knocking on wood. I blame the very same job that I waxed nostalgic about two posts ago. I had worked my way up there to being the person in charge of an entire hotel full of high schoolers, often around 200. My first few weeks of that job were pretty rough. Anything that could go wrong did, particularly with me having to bust and send home kids for drinking in their hotel rooms. I had to call my boss on each of these occasions, often quite late at night. One week, he hadn't heard from me by the time he saw me in the office. The conversation went something like this:

Me: I hate to even say it, but...

Him: DON'T!

We both knocked on wood and maybe spit on our elbows and threw salt over our shoulders or something. I honestly think I picked it up there out of total paranoia about what could possibly go wrong next. If I ever had a good week, I couldn't enjoy it for fear of when the other shoe would drop. I was accepting any and all insurance policies against everything going to crap, even if it involved knocking on tables and armoires like a crazy person. 

I sometimes still do this. On a somewhat regular basis. I'm not proud of that.

Alright now, you know how this works. I showed you mine, now you show me yours.

Good Stuff Tuesdays: Pretty Pictures Edition

Folks, I have already written another post in addition to this one. That's right - it's a guaranteed three post week! And thank goodness I'm churning these out early in the week because the children have gone batshit insane already and it is only now Monday and with another entire week remaining before the break. So I'm guessing upcoming evenings may see me staring into the middle distance and babbling incoherently.

Alright then! What good stuff do I have for you today?

Websites! Laura has been commenting here for a while. She recently started a photo blog and, people, I am blown away. I don't comment there as much as I should because I can't decide which photo to comment on and drool all over with my inarticulate admiration. Maybe you all can do a better job. Go there! Enjoy! Envy the photography prowess!

Unless, of course, you are Kerri and possess equally mad photography skillz. Then Laura could go to your Flickr and you could go to her blog and you both can congratulate each other on being so very talented.

The rest of us, on the other hand, can just enjoy the pretty pictures.

Misty Gravy-Covered Memories of the Way We Were

I've been thinking a lot about Thanksgiving lately. This is in large part because there are just two more weeks of school until an entire blessed week off. Also, I'm flying out to DC to visit a bunch of friends there. I'll have what I believe will be my fourth Thanksgiving with Katie (correct me if I've missed one, Katie.) And I'm heading up to Princeton to visit my friends Sharon and Eili there and get a tour of the campus. Oh, and hang out with Sharon's elementary schoolers on Wednesday. On my vacation from school, I am going to school. The key difference here being that I will not be in charge.

Anyway, all of that thinking about Thanksgiving has me recalling some Thanksgivings past. The one I thought I'd tell you about was my first Thanksgiving away from Wisconsin. It was in DC in 1999. My friend Karin, who worked with me at the time, was hosting Thanksgiving for anybody with no family in the area. Everybody had to bring one Thanksgiving side dish or dessert. And a sandwich topping.

We had turkey sandwiches with stuffing, potatoes, gravy, green bean casserole, various other vegetables, cranberry sauce, bread, and pie. Then we watched Home for the Holidays in order to make ourselves feel better about not being with our families. I don't remember a whole lot else about that day, except that we laughed a lot and it was a really, surprisingly good day.

I had just moved to DC that August and only started my job there the month before Thanksgiving. I'm not sure I had any idea of what I might do for the holiday before Karin invited me. It's not likely that I had high hopes for my Thanksgiving that year. It was also sort of my first grown-up Thanksgiving, on my own as a non-college student adult. I think maybe it made me feel a little more confident in my ability to do the whole living on my own thing. I got a job. I made some friends. I found a place for myself.

Thinking back, it's astounding the impact having gotten that job has made on the entire rest of my life. It was in the education field and helped lead me in that direction. It was during summers off from teaching civics with them that I got my first job doing reading remediation. I wouldn't even have known about the reading job, had it not been for one of my coworkers, who went on to be my roommate in New York. I'm not sure I would have gone if I hadn't had a friend also interested moving there. Several of my closest friends to this day are former coworkers from that first job out of college.

Including Karin. Since that first Thanksgiving together, she's gotten married, gotten ordained an Episcopal priest, and had two adorable kids. It's hard to believe that it's been ten years since she was kind enough to invite a 22 year-old with a thick Wisconsin accent over to her Thanksgiving orphan holiday. Thinking about that makes me feel old, so I prefer to focus on how I'll see her again in just two weeks back in DC. My home away from home for the holidays.